Chapter 71 Returning to Camp
Liu Gao, standing to the side, scratched his head, feeling that he might have said something wrong, otherwise why would Song Lubai's reaction be so cold?
Sitting to the side, Song Lubai wanted to look in the mirror to see how much darker she had gotten, but unfortunately there was no mirror for her to look in.
Seeing that Feng Ying and the others were sweating profusely from their busy work, Song Lubai, who felt she had rested well, picked up a shovel and went down into the canal to help them complete their task.
Liu Gao scratched his head and followed.
Digging large canals is widely recognized as the most arduous of all labor jobs, and if the work takes place in winter, it becomes an absolute nightmare.
Song Lubai and her friends were lucky, but not really lucky.
A cool evening breeze blew, but the sweat on everyone's bodies didn't dry because of the breeze; instead, it kept pouring out because of their hard work.
Sweat soaks into clothes that stick to the back, leaving yellowish-white stains after the sweat dries, which are especially noticeable on light-colored clothes.
Those who finished early would help those who hadn't, and most of those helped were girls. The girls were grateful but also felt a little guilty, thinking they were dragging the group down.
After the instructor and company commander inspected and approved it, the task for the day was considered successfully completed.
Their bodies were exhausted, but everyone walked back to camp as lightly as if they had won a battle.
"The sun sets in the west, its glow ablaze with red; soldiers return to camp after target practice, red flowers on their chests reflecting the colorful sunset, accompanied by joyful songs..."
I don't know who started singing this song, but those who knew it joined in, and the song carried far and wide across the desolate Gobi Desert.
The communal meal is ready; it's still corn porridge.
Everyone sat around the shed with their eating utensils, enjoying the food that wasn't particularly delicious but was enough to fill their stomachs.
There were only a few public washbasins in the camp. Song Lubai waited for a while before filling the basin with water and carrying it down to the dugout to start washing.
The back of the clothes he took off was covered with rings of sweat.
While she was hesitating between washing or not washing her clothes, Wu Zhaodi said, "Why bother washing them? There's no way to be picky here. You'll be sweating all day again. How can you have time to wash every day?"
Song Lubai was already tired and really didn't want to add any more work to her workload, so she was easily persuaded: "You're right, then let's wash it every few days, and we'll talk about it when it goes bad."
The girls laughed, and Feng Ying, who was combing her hair, said, "Zhao Di, my head is starting to itch too. Did you infect me?"
Wu Zhaodi picked up the candle and leaned closer to look at her hair. She rummaged through her hair for a while and said, "I can't see it clearly. I slept on that side by myself last night, so it shouldn't have gotten on you."
Song Lubai said, "I sweated a lot on my head during the day, so maybe it's because of the sweat that my head is itchy."
Feng Ying scratched her head, "If you get infected, it won't be easy to get rid of it."
After washing up, the girls lay down on the bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Song Lubai didn't have a single dream during the night. When she woke up again, her back was still sore, but her fatigue had lessened considerably.
No one complained about the reed bed anymore, because the biggest challenge was digging the canal; they had to fight against that canal.
Today's "newcomers" have completely caught up with the old folks, carrying cakes and farm tools as they walk alongside them.
The company commander said loudly, "We discussed it yesterday, and the women can leave half an hour earlier in the morning. After all, you are not used to it yet, and you have never done such strenuous labor before. Once you get used to it, you will have to do the same as everyone else."
The women almost burst into tears of joy.
They know all too well how unbearable it is when the sun is directly overhead at noon.
"Thank you, leaders, you are our saviors."
Wang Haiquan smiled at the excited female comrades and said, "As you can see, we are now a team. If you do less work, others will have to do more, which is unfair. So, when you are working, don't be lazy, and don't think about taking shortcuts or bullying the male comrades. Otherwise, you can see what you can do during your rest period to compensate the male comrades who helped you with the work."
One of the women suggested, "We can help with the men's laundry. There are nearly sixty of us women and almost two hundred men. If we have too much to do, we won't be able to finish in one day. Each woman can wash two sets of clothes a day. What do you ladies think?"
Each person can wash two sets of clothes a day, plus their own, making a maximum of three sets. In two days, they can wash all the clothes in the entire company.
The men in the company didn't have any decent clothes to begin with, and they all knew that clothes would wear out quickly if washed too often, so they didn't care about their appearance at all.
It's quite easy to wash their clothes every ten days or so.
The women didn't object at all.
Washing clothes is much easier than digging a large ditch.
It is said that women hold up half the sky, and women do not have the mindset that men should give way to them because they are physically weaker.
Yesterday, they couldn't finish their tasks, and then the kind-hearted men helped them finish them. Aren't they ashamed? Yes, they are ashamed.
At this time, when I was able to help the male comrades with some tasks, no one raised any objections.
Without hesitation, the women praised Wang Haiquan, saying, "That's how we should conduct ourselves and do things. Only by helping each other and working together can we overcome all difficulties efficiently."
The men were also very happy.
They toil in their earthen huts every day, exhausted. Who would even think about washing their dirty clothes? They don't even want to wash their faces.
People who wash their clothes twice a month are considered diligent and clean.
Now things are much better. With women helping with the laundry, they don't have to be so sloppy anymore.
When the canal digging started again, the sense of unfamiliarity between the "newcomers" and "veterans" dissipated a lot. Instead of separating the "newcomers" and "veterans" when assigning tasks, they were mixed together and assigned tasks in a cross-cutting manner.
We didn't talk much while working yesterday, but we're more familiar with each other today, so we're talking more.
To Song Lubai's left was an elderly veteran of the reclamation army who looked to be in his forties or fifties, and to her right was a young man from Shanghai.
The two men worked much faster than her; they could make a hole with a single hoe, while she had to dig the soil out of that hole twice with her shovel.
Others worked quickly, and she was impatient, so she didn't stop for a moment, and her palms were sore from rubbing them.
"Brother Liu, how old are you this year? When did you come to XJ?"
Liu Fengshou waved his hoe without looking up, "I came in '55, ten years before you. I was born in '27, let me calculate..."
Song Lubai chimed in, "Brother Liu, you're 38 this year."
Liu Fengshou nodded, "Yes, yes, he's 38 years old."
Although he is only thirty-eight years old, Brother Liu looks older than Lin Dahai, who is nearly fifty.
"Brother Liu, you're not married?"
Liu Fengshou smiled and said, "Not yet. Before, my family was so poor that we had to eat tree bark. I couldn't afford to get married. After I joined the army, my parents got sick and passed away one after another. There was no one to take care of me. When I came here, there were very few female comrades. But the leaders transferred a lot of female soldiers from Hunan and other places to solve the lifelong marriage problem for us bachelors. But I'm not good enough. Nobody wants me."
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